23 August 2016

Help i'm eating all the food

I'd like to think I'm a really happy guy who is in a really happy place right now.

Family life is good, work is kind of good at the moment and I'm still doing the odd blog post when I get time.

Can't say fairer than that.

I turned 34 a few months ago which kind of surprised a lot of my social media following because they actually thought I was a lot younger than I am.
I obviously took this as a massive complement and to be totally honest I do agree with them, but not in a vain way, I just don't think I look too bad for my age.

Plus I have a beard and that adds a few years on too.

I always wonder how old people would think I am if I shaved it off...buts that's never going to happen.

But I know what you must thinking - things can't be all that good, there must something not 100% and yes, you would be right I'm not happy at all with my weight.

When I mention my weight in tweets and other social platforms, people are like, "What are you on about? You look fine".

I reckon I must have a gift of hiding my unwanted chunky bits under my clothes really well because over the past eight years I have gone from a 32 inch waist to a 36 and even have to buy a 38 inch sized waist depending on the style of the pants.

Which is quite a leap really.

I mean, no, I'm not mega unhappy about my weight but I think if I don't do something about it now then very soon I will be pushing towards wearing a 40 inch waist and that's something I definitely don't want to do.

So what is my downfall? What is the reason behind me finding it so hard to control my weight?

Well, it's FOOD.

I just can not stop eating all the FOOD.

And I know people will say that I can eat all the food I like and still control my weight, I just need to eat the right food.

Well yes, I know that - I've tried it, many times, and have failed loads of times.

And this is the reason why...

All of my working life, all 16 years of it so far, I have done a manual job involving a lot of driving around the country and fixing doors.

On my first ever day working - on my 16th birthday - I remember my Dad taking me for my first proper butty, it was a BEAST consisting of bacon, egg, sausage, and tomato.

And over the years, from then to now, I wouldn't dare to even try count back the amount of breakfast butties I've had.

It's dangerous.

I've tried taking cereal to work but it just doesn't fill me up, not like a huge, warm sandwich does.
Some days are so tiring too, I really do think I need a few extra calories to see me through the day.

I've tried taking packed lunches with me for dinner but for some reason I just hate eating them and I don't even know why.

I really wish I did though because it would save me a lot of money...

...like I said, I drive all over the place so the food options open to me during the day are massive...

McDonald's, KFC, Subway...

I can't control my self.

I've reached a stage now where even I will sometimes be like "Come on Carl, today is the day. Today is the day the healthy eating starts."

And the next thing I know, I'm sat in McDonald's eating a spicy mayo chicken legend meal.

Even when I sometimes visit Cafes in the mornings with work mates, I will be thinking to myself, "I'm getting scrambled eggs and beans on toast", and I will keep saying it to myself right until it's my turn to order and then I get asked what I want...

"Full English please...with extra toast"

I'm a total healthy eating failure.

But since Willow was born I've noticed that I've really been getting out of breath so easy and even my wife tells me I've started to snore a lot at night.

It's not good - I feel really unfit and my motivation levels have dropped loads.

It's time to take some action.

And that is exactly what I am doing.

Not only have I taken action with my diet but I have with my fitness too...but look out for that story in a post coming soon.

So how have I altered my diet?

Well to started me off properly, the amazing people over at Exante have sent me over a little package full of goodies...

If you've never heard of Exante then here's a post I did on them quite a while ago when I first started blogging.

Exante Diet is the UK's leading online, diet and weight-management service and they offer a huge range of meal-replacement products, including diet soups, diet bars, shakes plus many more.

I first tried out some of the shakes as they are perfect for me because they are really quick and easy to make first thing in a morning before I dash out of the door to work.

I don't tend to eat first thing in the morning which is probably the reason why I crave unhealthy stuff about an hour later and this has to stop.

The shakes are high in protein, fiber and are packed with vitamins and minerals and are suitable for vegetarians.

All you need to do is add 200ml of cold water to the powder - I used bottled water from the fridge which gave the shake a nice chill - and then simply whisk it up or use a blender or a smoothie maker like I did.

All the shakes blend really well and taste quite nice, I mean I've had so many diet shakes before which taste horrible, so I was extremely pleased with these.

The four shakes I used were...

Lemon and Raspberry

Vanilla

Chocolate

Banana

My favorite was the Vanilla but only because it was really, really sweet.

The shakes did OK as a meal replacement but I must admit I was starving by the time dinner time rolled by.

Next up were some snacks for throughout the day.

I had a Strawberry Jam and Yogurt Crunch bar, a Chocolate Orange bar which is actually a meal replacement bar...which I only realised now as I write this post looking back at the photos, and a Hot Cross Bun flavored bar, which I'm already a big fan of because I've had these before.

All of the bars are quite dry and chewy really but are packed full of flavour - they taste really good, and just like the shakes, the bars are full of all the goodness my body will need to get it through the day.

And then last but by no means least are the dinners, all high in protein and made with natural flavours.

All three of these are meals I would buy from a supermarket if I was in rush and fancied a really quick tea.

These three didn't disappoint either - don't get me wrong, they not the tastiest meals in the world but they are quite nice and are really filling, which for me, was great for a meal with such a low calorie content.

So, my summery of the Exante products...

All of the products I tried have really great flavours and are really filling which is key for any diet plan.

Over the past four days I have used the products and I didn't feel like I needed to eat all the food I came across and to be honest, I do feel really good.

I'm not sure if I have actually lost any weight but, like I said, I'm feeling better and that's more than fine by me.